Discography
All albums by The Smiling Buddhas
The Smiling Buddhas "Non-Places #2"
code: 2403-33
release date 9.4.2024
format: cdr, digital - duration 50 minutes
style: ambient, experimental
Non-Places – A beatless ambient album about overcoming monofunctional spaces in urban and suburban areas.
I can no longer stand this waste of space and resources ("Make Your Roof Electric"), the chaos on the cloning traffic routes ("Multi-Lane Chaos") and these useless, capital and space-destroying parking lots ("Harvest On Endless Parking Lots"). Instead of soil sealing, I would like to see endless, civilization-empty spaces with lush nature again ("Civilization-Empty Spaces") and certainly not a valley full of fast fashion waste ("Dump For Fast Fashion") like in Chile or be stranded in distress on the Pacific Plastic Island ("Pacific Waste Vortex"). Stupid for us, "Time Is Against Us"!
The Smiling Buddhas "Never Ever Forever"
code: 2304-31
release date 24. April 2023
format: CDR, Digital - duration 44 minutes
style: ambient, techno
On "Never Ever Forever" we don't take you acoustically to faraway places!
On the record "Never Ever Forever" you don't go on an acoustic journey, you are not taken to a faraway place musically. It's more like the music pieces reveal the band's working method. "Swells, Layers, Breaks" is an ongoing motto in the band's musical output, the same goes for furious loops ("Raving Loops"). And bass is also never enough on the recordings ("Not Enough Bass"), while some pieces seem to dissolve in the working process ("Rip It Into Pieces of Sound"). "Scremo" is a musical dedication to a distortion tool by Alwin Weber. And then there are always electro magnetic glitches in the recording studio ("Electro Magnetic Fields"). "404 C3" is hopefully the ticket code for a long-distance trip, so that The Smiling Buddhas can collect material for aural travelogues again.
The Smiling Buddhas "Non-Places"
code: 2208-30
release date October 29th 2022
format: CDR/Tape/Digital
style: ambient, soundtrack
A beatless ambient album about monofunctional spaces in urban & suburban areas
In monofunctional places like airports, shopping malls, highways or hotels, an organic, social life is almost impossible, because there we only follow paths ("Follow The Path") or flow through in an orderly fashion ("Transitory Places"). In all these places, our movements, gestures and physical actions are monitored ("Obsessed With Optic Control And Security"). With the help of the "Touch Screen Monitor" we then temporarily leave these places without anchoring to dive into the "Metaverse". Cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma have fifty percent of the urban area designated as parking lots, where each space has only a simple function ("Every Place Is the Same Now"). These are bleak places where the poetics of living do not thrive. When a non-place loses its intended function, a vibrant biotope usually emerges.
The Smiling Buddhas "Far Off"
code: 2112-29
release date December 22nd 2021
format: CDR/Digital
style: techno, ambient techno
Another musical travel guide from The Smiling Buddhas.
Most of the tracks are intoxicating techno numbers, but two longer ambient pieces open up multi-layered soundscapes from areas full of myths and lost indigenous cultures.
Berlin, Early 90ies 5'04": Berlin in the early 1990s. We had so much fun, dancing the night away in places that weren't clubs but functioned as clubs. Greyhound Ride To Denver 4'14": We always loved the Greyhound ride from Alamogordo (NM) via Durango (CO) to Denver. Early in the morning the starry sky very close over Taos, then the breakfast break in Durango and at the end of the journey our friends picked us up at the bus terminal. Espresso Doppio, Trieste 4'56": Trieste is perhaps the world capital of espresso. The nights flow into the day and soon it's night again. Every now and then the heart pounds hard and fast, like techno, because too many espressos doppio should sweeten life.Nida Plateau 5'08": The Nida plateau in Kreata very close to the highest mountain on the island, the Psiloritis. A place of power for the Buddhas.Flagstaff, Arizona 4'00": Flagstaff, our gateway to the ancient sites of the Hisatsinom, also Anazazi. Fog In The Bay Area 12'10": When the fog is thick in San Francisco Bay, the city disappears and then we see the Miwok rowing boats across the bay behind the shrouds of fog. Keflavik Airport 3'58": Drinking Polar Beer early in the morning at Kevlavik Airport is not out of the question when you're listening to Sigur Ros music in your headphones. Four Corners 9'09": Long foot marches lead to magical places of ancient indigenous cultures. Magical!
The Smiling Buddhas "Acoustic Postcards"
date: 2020, December
code: base records 2012-27
format: Digital, CDR
keywords: techno, electronica
"Acoustic Postcards" - Travel the world with The Smiling Buddhas!
A musical journey to vivid places at wonderful destinations. "Viejo Puerto De Barcelona": We remember wistfully the old harbour district in Barcelona before the Olympics / Recordamos con nostalgia el antiguo barrio portuario de Barcelona antes de las Olimpiadas. "Dal Lazio a Roma": We love to drive from Palestrina or Subicao to Rome via secondary roads / Ci piace guidare da Palestrina o Subicao su strade secondarie per Roma. "Las Líneas de Nasca": Nasca won't let you go your whole life. We still fly over trapezoids, knots and lines / Nasca nunca te dejará ir en toda tu vida. Seguimos volando sobre trapecios, nudos y líneas. "From Rotterdam With Love": We grew up with techno from Rotterdam and pay homage to this place / We zijn opgegroeid met techno uit Rotterdam en we brengen een eerbetoon aan deze plek. "Dark Clouds In Tyrol": When the clouds hang low in Tyrol, we hear cosmic music / Wenn in Tirol die Wolken tief hängen, dann hören wir kosmische Musik. "Aqua Alta": When the water is high in Venice, we cry with the Venetians. But we also admire how they deal and live with Agua Alta / Quando a Venezia l'acqua è alta, piangiamo con i Veneziani. Ma ammiriamo anche come si comportano e vivono con Agua Alta. "Parade Hamburg 2017": Taking part in the entry parade of the ships in Hamburg on the culture ship Stubnitz will always tie us to Hamburg. The Hanseats anyway / Die Einlaufparade der Schiffe in Hamburg auf dem Kulturschiff Stubnitz mitzumachen, wird uns immer an Hamburg binden. Die Hanseaten sowieso.
Release Date: December 6th 2020
The Smiling Buddhas "Cote"
date: 2018, June
code: base records 1706-23
format: Digital, CDR
keywords: techno, electronica
"Cote" - dive deep fast!
The Smiling Buddhas create aural travelogues and this time they went deep into the sea, made party on the beach or felt asleep there. Two guest singers - one male (Le Renard on "La Plage") and one female (Philomena on "Ich schlief so sanft") - enlarge the charme factor of the melodic techno sound of The Smiling Buddhas. Cover photo taken by Wolfgang Dorninger 2015 at the 56th Venice Biennale in the Swiss Pavillon which hosted the awesome installation "Our Product" by the Swiss artist Pamela Rosenkranz.
Release Date: June 30th 2017
Digital Downloads: Beatport Pro / Juno / Clone D\G\T\L / iTunes / Djtunes / Djshop / Amazon.de / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Google Play
Radio, Streaming Services: Deezer / Spotify / Napster
The Smiling Buddhas "Alpine Rose"
date: 2016, May
code: Alpine Rec. ALP 068
format: Digital
keywords: techno
"Alpine Rose" means in German Almrausch!
"Alpine Rose" by The Smiling Buddhas has to do with intoxication high up in the mountains. In German Alpine Rose means Almrausch. The "Alm" is a seasonal mountain pasture and "Rausch" means inebriety or high. I was told as a kid that "there is no sin up on the alp (Alm)". The alp and the alpine area around always was a rebellious cultural milieu because it's distance to villages. Poachers, rebells, herbal-gatherers (mostly women with leechcraft) and alpine herdsman lived a very individual live in defiance of authority and moral.
Release Date: May 27th 2016
The Smiling Buddhas "Homekong"
date: 2015, september
code: base records 1509-20
format: CD/Digital
keywords: tech-house, techno
"Homekong" Sick of Home, Homesick?
"Homekong" by The Smiling Buddhas is the 5th travelogue after "Lo", "Atacama", "The Alps", and "Latium". Homesick or sick of home are two states of mind that sometimes are quite close together and the best place seems to be somewhere in between. "Victoria Peak" is a mountain overlooking Hong Kong – at daybreak, this is a place of pure and unspoilt beauty until the roar of the megapolis starts trembling loud. Bright lights in all colors keep the "Nightless Night" on a constant level of attraction but after a while it fades into grey. "Smooth Ride To Windham" is the overture before heading into the pleasures of urban nightlife while "Homekong" sings gently into my ear 'come home' and at the same time 'leave': 'come home, leave' "This land is not of milk and honey?" So sad!
Tune in, put on your headphones and travel far away to a place called Homekong.
Release Date: September 30th
Digital Downloads: Beatport Pro / Juno / Clone D\G\T\L / iTunes / Djtunes / Djshop / Amazon.de / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Google Play
Radio, Streaming Services: Deezer / Spotify
Promotion: Pullproxy
The Smiling Buddhas "All-Nighter"
date: 2015, january
code: base records 1501-19
format: CD/Digital
keywords: minimal techno, techno
"All-Nighter" - What did I do last night?
All-Nighter by The Smiling Buddhas is a hyperactive ecstatic trip, raving through urban landscapes all night long. Six tunes - each different in sound and speed - show us the paths to enjoying big city nights, Buddah style. Every night opens up new spaces, every city has its own pulse and every club its own crowd, radiating pure magic.
Feel free to join in, pump up the volume and start freaking out!
Release Date: January 26th
Digital Downloads: Beatport Pro / Juno / Clone D\G\T\L / iTunes / Djtunes / Djshop / Amazon.de / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Google Play
Radio, Streaming Services: Deezer / Spotify
CD: base shop
Promotion: Pullproxy
The Smiling Buddhas "Latium"
date: 2014, june
code: base records 1407-18
format: CD/Digital
keywords: ambient, minimal techno, techno, Latium, Italy, travelogue
"Latium" - the forth aural travelogue by The Smiling Buddhas!
Latium is the region around Rome and a government region of Italy. In 2013 while living south-east of Rome in the foothills of the Abruzzo, The Smiling Buddhas spent some time travelling in this region. "Fast Bikeride Down To Trevi Nel Lazio" tries to recreate the aural speedrush of speeding downhill on a racing bike from the lovely city of Jenne to Trevi Nel Lazio. "Rocca dei Borgia" (Rocca Abbaziale) is an abbey that was originally designed as a castle by the Borgias in Subiaco. Lucrezia Borgia was born here, the most important inspiration for this tune. "Palestrina" guides you through the ruined medieval castle San Pietro of the Colonna family on a very hot day after a wine tasting. "Cruising To Terracina" tells the story of a drive at high speed with the car windows down, discussing the quality of Italian movies from the 50ies. Altipiani di Arcinazzo is a little village that tries to look like Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Alps. That's why "Altipiani" sounds so surreal!
"Cicadas" is an attempt at fusing together the experience of the beautiful Italian countryside with the noise of tuned-up motorbikes speeding up to Paliano and the distant sound of the nightly fireworks from the luna park in Valmontone.
The cover shows a building in Paliano, Italy.
Digital Downloads: Beatport / iTunes / Clone D\G\T\L / Bandcamp / Juno / Djshop / Amazon.de / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Google Play / 7 Digital
Radio, Streaming Services: Deezer / Rhapsody / Spotify
CD: base shop
Promotion: Pullproxy
The Smiling Buddhas "The Alps"
date: 2013, december
code: base records 1312-17
format: CD/Digital
keywords: ambient, minimal techno, mountains, The Alps, travelogue
"The Alps" - the third aural travelogue by The Smiling Buddhas!
Having gained spiritual insight into the hidden kingdom of Lo in Mustang, Nepal ("Lo", base 2008), The Smiling Buddhas traveled and hiked through the Atacama desert in Chile and Peru ("Atacama", base 2012). "The Alps" (base, 2013) is a journey back to the days of child- and boyhood in the Austrian Alps. Tracks like "Snow Melt & Wet Avalanches" bring us close to huge spring avalanches thundering down nearby. "Wintersun" is about relaxing in front of an alpine hut, listening to the sound of birds, avalanches and silence. Later, we'll find The Smiling Buddhas skiing down the very steep Temelberg Ostrinne ("Seconds Before Steep Ski Run!"). In "Thunder and Lightning near Stüdlhütte", you can come along on an a fast fearful walk up to a save alpine hut, the Stüdlhütte - high pulse and proximity to death! In "Snow Snow Snow", the Buddhas get stuck for five days in a hut in the middle of the Gosaukamm. Years later, they ski down Großer Sonnblick to the Rojacher alpine hut with Firngleiter ("Sking Down Großer Sonnblick (9941 ft altitude)"). In "Nordwand", they dream of the Eiger northface, while in "Falling", Fa-Di 'soundtracked' his one and only fall into the rope: Silence, just air underneath his feet, 300 meters above ground, no fear. Then a fast climb upwards, pushed by heavy loads of adrenalin.
Digital Downloads: Beatport / iTunes / Clone D\G\T\L / Bandcamp / Juno / Djshop / Djtunes / Amazon.de / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / DigitalMusik.info / Google Play / Musicload / 7 Digital
Radio, Streaming Services: Deezer / Rhapsody / Spotify
CD: base shop
Promotion: Pullproxy
The Smiling Buddhas "Atacama"
date: 2012, december
code: base records 1201-16
format: CD/Digital
keywords: ambient, minimal techno, Peru, Chile, Atacama, travelogue
A musical journey through the beautiful Atacama desert in Chile and Peru.
"Atacama" starts with "Walking Through The Desert Near Palpa (Hitched a ride in a battered collectivo in the end)". The piece starts with very high frequencies (out of a Roland JD-800) to finish with a rolling beat. First heat, too much sun, aching legs, thirst but at the end I've got a nice ride in a collectivo (taxi) watching the landscape passing by. "On The Moon On Earth (Valle de La Luna)“ points out the cosmological spirit of the ancient dwellers. "Ghost Towns On The Coast Of Guanera" is a hymn to the ocean, the wind, the albatros but brings us also in mind that the richness of a region through guano is history. "Flying On A Bus (Night Bus from Tacna to Nasca)" is the final tune of the travelogue. We never felt as close to death as on this crazy bus ride from Tacna to Nasca.
Digital Downloads: iTunes / Bandcamp / Amazon.de / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Google Play
Radio, Streaming Services: Deezer / Rhapsody / Spotify
CD: base shop
The Smiling Buddhas "Lo"
date: 2008, december
code: base records 0812-13
format: CD/Digital
keywords: ambient, minimal techno, Nepal, Mustang, hidden, travelogue
A journey to the "hidden" kingdom of Lo. A driving, hypnotic and vibrant travelogue of sheer beauty!
"Lo" is a driving, hypnotic and vibrant trip of sheer beauty! Sometimes The Smiling Buddhas add powerful, heavy distorted or elegant beats to express the bodies reaction in thin air ("Dizzy In High Altitude"), steep climbs up to high passes ("Up, Up, Slowly,Slowly") and open hearted dance parties ("Friendly Dhee"). The piece starts with a flight through the deepest gorge in the world ("Into The Gorge") and ends with the chime of holy bells from Muktinath ("Muktinath") & ("End Of The Kora").
Digital Downloads: iTunes / Bandcamp / Amazon.de / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com
Radio, Streaming Services: Deezer / Spotify
CD: base shop
The Smiling Buddhas "From HongKong"
date: 2002, february
sold out
"From HongKong" was released as a CD-on-demand album. Maybe you remember MP3.com. They sold some copies all around the world. Out of print